The present invention relates to a laparoscopic instrument useful in measuring dimensions of organs, and which is particularly well suited to facilitated collection of length data of a segment or segments of an elongated body part, including the small bowel, for example, during laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery. The invention further provides a method for obtaining such distance measurements using a laparoscopic instrument.
During laparoscopic surgery, various surgical instruments are inserted through one or more minor incisions in a patient's abdomen. A example of such a type of instrument is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,373 issued Sep. 15, 1992 to Ferzli, which patent is incorporated herein by reference as it pertains to the general construction of such instruments, as well as any other structural features pertinent to the practice of the invention herein.
In conjunction with the use of laparoscopic devices, a TV monitor receiving electronically converted images from an endoscope displays a view of the interior body cavity being operated on, permitting the surgeon to properly manipulate the laparoscopic instruments, as desired.
Laparoscopic surgery has made available to the patient less intrusive surgical alternatives to large incision, open surgery. Procedures heretofore requiring major invasive surgery, can now be performed laparoscopically with minimal invasion, resulting in a reduction in pain, accelerated patient recovery and significantly less scaring.
However, insofar as the surgeon performing a laparoscopic procedure generally has a view of the interior body regions of the patient accessed by the laparoscopic instruments which is limited to that shown on the aforementioned monitor, it has often been difficult for the surgeon to ascertain distances and dimensions of the various organs (or lesions) as necessary or desirable.
This drawback was addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,050,960 issued Apr. 18, 2000 to Ferzli, which is incorporated herein by reference. The patent disclosure describes a laparoscopic instrument in which a wheel is rotatably mounted at a distal end of an elongated barrel portion. During use, the instrument is inserted into a body cavity, through an appropriately placed incision, in accordance with conventional practice, and the internal body part to be measured is contacted by the wheel. Rotation of the wheel as it is moved in applied contact along the organ surface is converted into data representative of a distance traversed thereby.
While the aforementioned instrument is effective in the taking of measurements of dimensions and/or distances of many internal organs and the like, in many cases, such as in measurements relating to the small bowel, which is quite flexible and winding, it is difficult in practice to maintain the required continual contact of the wheel and the bowel while it is moved along a length segment thereof to be measured.
It would therefore be desirable to provide an instrument for use during laparoscopic surgery which could be inserted into a body cavity through a laparoscopic incision, and which could be used to indicate to the surgeon various internal distances and dimensions in a reliable and reproducible manner.
It would further be desirable to provide such an instrument which would be particularly useful, for example, in operations requiring organ bypass, such as in connection with intestinal or duodenum surgery, or gastric bypass, where a portion of the intestine is bypassed, ideally with a correctly sized bowel segment.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a laparoscopic instrument which overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a laparoscopic instrument which, when used during a laparoscopic procedure, permits physical measurement of various surface distances along internal body parts.
It is yet a further object of the invention to provide an instrument which structurally lends itself to material fabrication in a form permitting sterilization of the instrument in an autoclave or by means of other accepted sterilization techniques.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a laparoscopic instrument which provides versatile measurement capabilities permitting its use independent of internal spatial considerations.